A computer network or data network generally refers to a telecommunications network that enables computing devices to exchange data. In computer networks, various types of network computing devices can communicate data with each other using various data/network connections, which are generally referred to as network links (e.g., data links, connections, or flows). Network links can include communications over one or more networks (e.g., private/enterprise networks, private/home networks, and/or the Internet). Data is generally transferred over network links in the form of data packets using various network protocols (e.g., TCP/IP and/or other network/communication protocols, including higher and lower level protocols in reference to the OSI network stack). The data/network connections between various computing devices (e.g., nodes in the network) can be implemented using wired-based network connections (e.g., over physical wires, such as cable media) and/or wireless-based network connections (e.g., over wireless media).
Various types of network monitoring tools exist for monitoring computer networks. For example, various network management tools exist to notify a network administrator if a network component is slow or failing to operate properly. As another example, network tomography tools exist to perform various network measurements, such as to monitor the health of network connectivity using various end-to-end probes sent by agents located at different points in a network and/or the Internet. As yet another example, route analytics tools exist to monitor routes and identify routing issues that impact network performance. Network security tools also exist to monitor various network security related issues, such as intrusion detection and firewall tools.